Mary Pond

In Loving Memory of Mary Louise Johnson Pond, Grapevine, Texas It is with heavy hearts, but with love and gratitude for a life well-lived, that we announce the death of our mother, Mary Louise Pond on Tuesday, December 17, 2025, at the age of 102.

Born in Greenville, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, on June 19, 1922, to schoolteacher, Ethel Terry James Johnson, and self-taught architect and builder/contractor, Colonel Austin Johnson. Being raised in First Baptist Church, Greenville, amid the Great Depression, instilled in her a strong foundation of faith, industriousness, and a commitment to serving others- qualities that defined how she lived her life and the legacy she leaves behind.

Ever diligent, she excelled in her studies and piano lessons, eventually graduating valedictorian of her high school class. She began playing piano accompaniments for church services in elementary school and learned to play the organ at age 12 when a church member donated a new organ to the church, with the stipulation that Mary Louise would play it. The organ included a few free lessons given by an organist in Nashville, where the organist played on the radio and as accompaniment to silent movies. Her mother took her to Nashville on several weekends to take advantage of the opportunity. She was encouraged to attend Baylor University by a well-known Baptist hymn writer, B. B. McKinney, for whom she played piano to accompany him in a revival meeting in Kentucky. 

In the fall after her high school graduation, she travelled to Waco, TX, by herself on the train, to begin her studies at Baylor. During her freshman year, she joined Columbus Ave Baptist Church, in Waco, where she often played piano for student gatherings. During one of those meetings, she met Bill Pond, her future husband. After her graduation, they were married December 15, 1943.

 They immediately began their life in ministry to small Baptist Churches in the panhandle of Texas, where Bill was pastor and Mary Louise played piano. They attended Southwestern seminary during the week and drove to their pastorates on weekends. Together they brought God's word and love to people across Texas, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, Chicago, and Florida, as well as during 2 years as missionaries in the Panama Canal Zone. 

Mary Louise continued to work as church accompanist well into her 80's and gave her last piano concert at the age of 98.

There will be a graveside service at Burnet Cemetery, Burnet, Texas, Saturday, January 18, with family attending.

She is preceded in death by her husband, W. Y. (Bill) Pond, Jr., her parents, Colonel Austin Johnson and Ethel Terry James Johnson, her younger sister, Anna Rachel (Ann) Johnson Henderman, and an infant daughter Patricia Ann Pond.

She is survived by her 3 children: Sharon Ruth Pond Nations, Ronald (Ron) William Pond and Richard (Rick) Austin Pond, as well as 8 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Her legacy of love and faithfulness will live on through her family and those who were blessed to hear her masterfully play the piano and organ.